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Your No. 1 source for Chicago basketball newsThu, 08 Dec 2016 09:08:07 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.761331731Bruno Skokna continues emergence as Loyola pummels Wright Statehttp://thecatchandshoot.com/bruno-skokna-emergence-loyola-wright-state/
http://thecatchandshoot.com/bruno-skokna-emergence-loyola-wright-state/#respondThu, 08 Dec 2016 08:57:14 +0000http://thecatchandshoot.com/?p=15077Watching Bruno Skokna play for Loyola, you probably would not expect he was a freshman if you didn’t know better. The 6’4″ guard possesses some rough spots, but he plays with a poise and grit that emits a veteran vibe.

Skokna received his first career start in Wednesday’s 77-64 win against Wright State, his 10th college game. Coach Porter Moser put him on the floor as a result of matchups and injuries. 6’9″ Maurice Kirby junior had started the team’s first nine games, but Wright State’s small, perimeter-oriented lineup led Moser to keep him on the bench. 6’6″ wings Donte Ingram and Matt Chastain were both out with injuries, so Moser went extra small with the 6’4″ Skokna.

“It definitely felt great,” Skokna said on getting his first start. “I hope there will be plenty more in the future.”

The 19-year-old freshman delivered with 9 points — a career-high against Division I competition — along with 4 rebounds and a steal in 26 minutes. At times, Skokna also drew the difficult assignment of guarding Wright State leading scorer Mark Alstork, who entered the day averaging 21.6 points. Alstork finished the game with 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting and three turnovers.

Skokna looked loads more comfortable than in any other outing this season. He finished a pair of difficult drives at the rim with his left hand, shots he had missed a handful of to date.

“You can see he’s got a tremendous first step,” Moser said. “He’s quick, he’s strong. He’s just got to let the game come, get other guys involved up top and not try to just force everything. The last couple of games he’s looking more comfortable. He’s letting the game come to him, and he’s making some nice plays.”

With Ingram, the team’s top rebounder, out for the second straight game, Skokna has stepped in for 10 rebounds during his absence. Skokna said the entire team emphasized rebounding with Ingram out, but he admitted with a laugh that some of the success is simply good fortune.

“I’m just trying to hop in because everybody’s blocking out, and I’m the one who is probably guarding the fastest guy who’s going back [to play defense] so I don’t have to block out,” Skokna said. “And I just grab the boards, so it’s pretty easy. ”

Bruno Skokna turned in his best all-around game of the season in his first career start Wednesday. (Photo: Jesse Kramer / thecatchandshoot.com)

While Skokna’s offensive rating through eight Division I games sits at a lowly 69.6, that number has steadily improved. He has posted 127, 99 and 111 offensive ratings in Loyola’s last three games. Skokna entered Loyola known for his outside shooting ability, and that is the part of the game where he has struggled most so far, shooting 20.8 percent from 3-point range.

“You guys haven’t even seen what Bruno can do,” junior guard Clayton Custer said after Wednesday’s game. “Bruno is an unbelievable player. He dominates some practices. He makes plays for other people, he’s a really good passer. He shoots the something out of the ball in practice. It’s going to be a matter of time before he’s out here just dominating. Today was a step in the right direction.”

]]>http://thecatchandshoot.com/bruno-skokna-emergence-loyola-wright-state/feed/015077Loyola holds electric scorer Mark Alstork in check with disciplined defensehttp://thecatchandshoot.com/loyola-ramblers-limits-mark-alstork-scorer-disciplined-defense/
http://thecatchandshoot.com/loyola-ramblers-limits-mark-alstork-scorer-disciplined-defense/#respondThu, 08 Dec 2016 08:14:09 +0000http://thecatchandshoot.com/?p=15085With Gentile Arena handing out free Chick-fil-A sandwiches to students before Wednesday’s game, Loyola was too full to bite on Wright State’s pump fakes. The result was another strong effort defensively as the Ramblers won 77-64 and held Raiders leading scorer Mark Alstork, who entered the game averaging 21.6 points, to 13 points.

The pump fake has been a major part of Alstork’s success this season. The 6’5″ guard has utilized the technique often to get defenders off-balance and draw fouls. Entering Wednesday, 38.6% of Alstork’s points against Division I competition came at the foul line, a stat Loyola junior guard Clayton Custer called “ridiculous.”

Loyola (8-2) halted the ridiculousness on Wednesday, as Alstork needed 15 field goal attempts and 4 free throws to reach his team-high 13 points. Only 30.7% of Alstork’s points came at the line, the fourth-lowest mark of the season and second-lowest in a game where he scored less than 30 points.

“We spent the last couple of days staying down on their shot fake at the beginning and at the end of drives,” Loyola coach Porter Moser said of the team’s practice preparation. “A lot of times they drive and then they stop and shot fake you. We just wanted [Alstork] to take tough shots. That’s the thing you do. You don’t want to gamble on a great scorer. You just want to be solid and make him earn it, and that was the mentality on him.”

Practicing against shot fakes is one thing. Succeeding defensively against a player who has continually burned defenders with his shot fake presents a whole new challenge.

On Wright State’s first possession, Alstork pump faked on the left block and Loyola forward Aundre Jackson leapt off his feet, leaving the talented scorer with an easy layup. After that, Alstork’s opportunities were scarce.

Alstork did not even attempt a foul shot until the 12:58 mark of the second half. He then had a brief spurt where he drew fouls on consecutive possessions and made all four free throws, but Loyola (8-2) kept him off the stripe for the final 11 minutes.

As a team, Wright State (6-4) attempted 16 free throws to 60 field goals for a free throw rate of 26.7%, about 20 percentage points below their season average entering the game. The Raiders mustered one foul shot in the first 21 minutes as Loyola built a 39-28 lead.

Without his usual success at the foul line, Alstork struggled. After all, he is only a 39.5% field-goal shooter. That 86.5% free throw percentage is what propelled him into the nation’s top echelon of scorers early in the season. Alstork can also be a lethal 3-point threat coming in at 39.6%, but Loyola’s top 100 perimeter defense limited him to 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Porter Moser’s Loyola Ramblers have won three straight games to match their best start since the 2010-11 season with an 8-2 record. (Photo: Jesse Kramer / thecatchandshoot.com)

Alstork has endured worse nights from the field. He posted a goose egg against North Dakota, going 0-of-9 on field goals. Even so, he reached double figures in that game thanks to 10-of-11 shooting at the foul line.

For Loyola, forcing Alstork into 4-of-15 shooting from the field was only half the battle.

“He goes in there and drives and throws his body into you,” Custer said. “They gave him some calls in the second half, so he did get to the line some. But we practiced all week on keeping our hands out, playing with our feet and having our hands high when he went up for shots. I think we did a pretty good job of doing that most of the game.”

]]>http://thecatchandshoot.com/loyola-ramblers-limits-mark-alstork-scorer-disciplined-defense/feed/015085Fans rush court as Indiana State upsets No. 16 Butler on Larry Bird’s birthdayhttp://thecatchandshoot.com/fans-rush-court-at-indiana-state-upsets-no-16-butler-on-larry-birds-birthday/
http://thecatchandshoot.com/fans-rush-court-at-indiana-state-upsets-no-16-butler-on-larry-birds-birthday/#respondThu, 08 Dec 2016 02:26:09 +0000http://thecatchandshoot.com/?p=15073On Larry Bird’s 60th birthday, his alma mater Indiana State upset undefeated No. 16 Butler at the Hulman Center. The 72-71 victory was the program’s biggest since the 2012-13 season, so as you can expect it’s a party in Terre Haute right now.

Junior guard Brenton Scott led the Sycamores with 25 points and had the game-winning free throw with 1.5 seconds left.

]]>http://thecatchandshoot.com/fans-rush-court-at-indiana-state-upsets-no-16-butler-on-larry-birds-birthday/feed/015073DePaul pulls away from Lamar for 80-61 victoryhttp://thecatchandshoot.com/depaul-pulls-away-from-lamar-for-80-61-victory/
http://thecatchandshoot.com/depaul-pulls-away-from-lamar-for-80-61-victory/#respondWed, 07 Dec 2016 05:04:14 +0000http://thecatchandshoot.com/?p=15071It was the second meeting in program history for the DePaul Blue Demons and the Lamar Cardinals. Despite both teams getting off to a slow start, the Blue Demons pulled away down the stretch, scoring 46 points in the second half to defeat the Cardinals 80-61.

In the last two games, the Blue Demons had to come from behind. This time the Blue Demons led the way.

“It shows we can play with a lead. We don’t have to panic,” said DePaul coachDave Leitao. “We just have to be prepared for all different types of situations.”

The Blue Demons were led by sophomore guard Eli Cain who finished with a team-high 21 points, with 10 of those points coming from the charity stripe. DePaul also had their way with the Cardinals on the glass, out-rebounding Lamar with a +15 advantage finishing with 45 total rebounds.

Despite the game turning one-sided midway through the second half, Lamar put up a fight all 40-minutes forcing 13 Blue Demon turnovers, which they turned into 18 points. It wasn’t until the Blue Demons forced Lamar into foul trouble midway through both halves that the game slipped away from the Cardinals. In addition DePaul held Lamar to 32% from the game and held their leading scorer Colton Weisbrod to 6 points and no made field goals.

The Cardinals were led by sophomore Dorian Chatman who had 21 points and 6 rebounds off the bench.

Meanwhile, DePaul senior Billy Garrett Jr. passed Joey Meyer to become 26th on DePaul’s all-time scoring list. He finished with 15 points on the evening, and has accumulated 1,242 career points thus far.

Looking ahead, DePaul will travel to Miami to compete in the Hoophall Miami Invitational on Saturday against Temple. Game time is slated for 10:30 a.m. central time.

]]>http://thecatchandshoot.com/depaul-pulls-away-from-lamar-for-80-61-victory/feed/015071Chicago Weekly Awards, Dec. 5http://thecatchandshoot.com/chicago-weekly-awards-dec-5/
http://thecatchandshoot.com/chicago-weekly-awards-dec-5/#respondMon, 05 Dec 2016 19:58:04 +0000http://thecatchandshoot.com/?p=15053Every week for the 2016-17 season, The Catch and Shoot will name a Player of the Week, Freshman of the Week, Team of the Week and Game of the Week among the five Division I schools in the Chicago area.

Here are the winners for the 3rd week of the season (Nov. 28-Dec. 4):

Photo: Jesse Kramer / thecatchandshoot.com

Player of the Week

Aundre Jackson, Loyola

Jackson finished with 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting in Loyola’s victory against San Diego State. He made a pair of key buckets in crunch time, one to give Loyola the lead and another to stretch that lead to three points.

He also tallied 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting in a win over Norfolk State, giving him a weekly average of 20.5 points. Jackson currently ranks sixth in the nation with a 76.0 effective field goal percentage.

UIC’s freshmen continue to impress, and this week Ottey topped the list with 15.5 points per game on 54.5% shooting. For the first time this season, Ottey failed to get to the foul line in a win against Chicago State, but he got back to his old ways against Eastern Illinois with 6-of-8 shooting at the stripe.

Ottey also had two steals in each of UIC’s games last week.

Honorable mention: Godwin Boahen, UIC

Team of the Week

Northwestern

The Wildcats got a huge win for the program, knocking off Wake Forest at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Northwestern had struggled mightily in close games to start the season but impressively closed out Wake thanks to a heroic second half performance from Bryant McIntosh.

The Ramblers lost control of a 10-point lead in the second half and found themselves down 54-53 in the closing minutes. Jackson and junior guard Ben Richardson made a handful of key plays down the stretch as Loyola regained its footing and came away with a major upset on its home floor.

Had the Ramblers made a few more plays in their 79-77 loss to NC State in November, they surely would have received top 25 votes this week.

]]>http://thecatchandshoot.com/chicago-weekly-awards-dec-5/feed/015053Horizon League Power Rankings, Dec. 5http://thecatchandshoot.com/horizon-league-power-rankings-dec-5/
http://thecatchandshoot.com/horizon-league-power-rankings-dec-5/#respondMon, 05 Dec 2016 19:38:38 +0000http://thecatchandshoot.com/?p=15049While Valparaiso and Oakland remain the pretty obvious top two in the Horizon League, there have been a lot of shakeups throughout the conference over the last couple of weeks. First-year coach Scott Nagy has Wright State playing well, although the Raiders have dropped their last two against strong competition. Meanwhile, another first-year coach, Bacari Alexander, continues to struggle at Detroit.

That and more in this week’s Horizon League Power Rankings.

1. Valparaiso

2016-2017 Record: 7-1

Previous Ranking: 1

After pivotal wins over Alabama, BYU (neutral court) and Rhode Island, Valparaiso has firm control of the No. 1 spot in the Horizon League Power Rankings. The scary thing for the rest of the league? Alec Peters is shooting only 23% from three, but his points per game have improved from 18.4 last year to 25.4 this year. How? He’s attempting and making more shots inside the arc and is top-ten in the country in free throws attempted and made. His 3-point shooting percentage will improve — we are talking about a player who has connected on 41% of his 581 career 3-point attempts.

2. Oakland

2016-2017 Record: 8-1

Previous Ranking: 2

Oakland has coasted through their easy non-conference schedule thus far. Their best opponent has been Nevada, which resulted in a loss. Martez Walker continues to thrive as the go-to option offensively. Stevie Clark has looked the part as a facilitator who puts his teammates in scoring positions. But Oakland won’t face other quality opponents until late December in Georgia and Michigan State. Those games will shed light on just how good Oakland really is.

Photo: Greg Lynch / Dayton Daily News

3. Wright State

2016-2017 Record: 6-3

Previous Ranking: 4

Scott Nagy has implemented a four-guard lineup and given his best player, Mark Alstork, the keys to the offense despite not being a true point guard. While Alstork is producing a nice stat line (21.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.7 apg), he’s committing an alarmingly high 5.3 turnovers per game. And opponents are making 49% of their two-pointers. These are areas of much needed improvement. A positive for Wright State has been the surprising success of guards Grant Benzinger and Justin Mitchell on the boards. Benzinger averaged 1.9 rpg last year, but he’s up to 6.6 rpg currently. Mitchell has gone from being a little-used reserve to leading Wright State in rebounds with 7.2 rpg.

4. Green Bay

2016-2017 Record: 4-4

Previous Ranking: 3

Freshman point guard Trevor Anderson continues to impress with his play, especially his effectiveness behind the arc. He’s a prime candidate to take home the Freshman of the Year award in the Horizon League. Green Bay’s success going forward will be determined by Charles Cooper. The senior wing has struggled with his shot early on, but his key 18 points in Green Bay’s overtime victory on the road at Toledo could snap him out of his slump.

5. Northern Kentucky

2016-2017 Record: 5-3

Previous Ranking: 8

We had Northern Kentucky at No. 6 in preseason projections, as well as Drew McDonald being on the All-League 2nd team. The early returns have been right on par, thanks to McDonald. He’s averaging 20.5 ppg and 8.6 rpg, good for top-five in both categories in the Horizon League. McDonald showed potential as a 3-point threat last year, and he’s only expanded on that perimeter skill set this year. He has made 12-of-25 from three so far, including 10-of-16 in his last five games.

6. Youngstown State

2016-2017 Record: 5-4

Previous Ranking: 5

Cameron Morse has missed the last two games with a right hand injury, a tough blow for Youngstown State considering he’s a lethal scoring threat. Junior point guard Francisco Santiago has stepped up in his void, scoring 40 points and dishing out 16 assists in his last two games. Sophomore big man Devin Haygood has made considerable improvements, and Matt Donlan and Brett Frantz are excellent floor-spacers.

Photo: Jesse Kramer / thecatchandshoot.com

7. UIC

2016-2017 Record: 4-4

Previous Ranking: 7

Steve McClain picked up his first win outside of the UIC Pavilion with a neutral court victory over Cal Poly last week. But the Flames went on to lose at home against Eastern Illinois on Sunday. Dikembe Dixson continues to score at a high rate, but his issue of turning over the basketball (3.9 per game) persists. The freshmen trio of Godwin Boahen, Tarkus Ferguson and Marcus Ottey gives UIC the offensive firepower they lacked last season. But UIC’s effort on defense will determine just how many more games the Flames will win this year.

8. Milwaukee

2016-2017 Record: 3-5

Previous Ranking: 10

LaVall Jordan has his team competing and grinding out wins, Milwaukee has been a pleasant surprise. Milwaukee got a nice win over UC Irvine and nearly beat Montana on the road. Brock Stull has benefitted most with the changes to the coaching staff. He’s the leading scorer and rebounder, but he most importantly has the confidence of Jordan. Cody Wichmann continues his shooting ways from three. Bryce Nze got a double-double against Montana in only 18 minutes. He’s the X-factor for Milwaukee, if he can stay out of foul trouble.

9. Cleveland State

2016-2017 Record: 2-5

Previous Ranking: 6

Demonte Flannigan is finally back on the court for Cleveland State after being sorely missed. He’s the top big man on the roster. Now the Vikings need to integrate Flannigan with his talented backcourt teammates in Rob Edwards, Kasheem Thomas and Bobby Word. This team has a shot at moving up thanks to the aforementioned players. They’re better than their record indicates.

10. Detroit

2016-2017 Record: 1-7

Previous Ranking: 9

The struggles continue for Detroit, but you have to like the play of first-year guard Corey Allen. Nearly 11 points per game, and he’s made 16-of-34 from three in eight games. Allen should excel as a scorer for the next four years.

CHICAGO — UIC got manhandled Sunday by in-state opponent Eastern Illinois in a 90-76 loss at UIC Pavilion. After a tight 18 minutes to open the game, Eastern Illinois built a 41-30 lead at halftime and led by as many as 23 points early in the second half.

Here are five thoughts on the double-digit defeat for the Flames.

The biggest number of the day was UIC’s 44.9 effective field-goal percentage.

UIC handled Eastern Illinois’ defensive pressure well from a turnover standpoint, but a mix of solid Panthers defense plus some impatient offense by the Flames led to an abysmal shooting performance. The 44.9% mark was easily UIC’s worst of the season.

For a while, that number was hovering around 40% before the Flames got hot (relatively) late in the second half to cut the lead to as few as 10 points.

It didn’t help that they also shot 67.6% (23-of-34) at the foul line.

This is what happens in year two of a major rebuilding process.

Some nights, we’ll see the prospects of a bright future. Other nights, it will look like year one all over again.

This is a team with no seniors and six newcomers logging serious minutes. As long as UIC does not have a string of miserable performances, that’s major progress from last season.

As ugly as Sunday’s loss was (and it doesn’t help the defeat was to an in-state opponent), in the big picture it’s not a big deal. At least not yet.

Muusa Dama struggled to stay on the floor, but when he did he outplayed UIC bigs. (Photo: Jesse Kramer / thecatchandshoot.com)

Tai Odiase won’t become an elite player without improving his free throw shooting.

Odiase, a 6’8″ junior, finished with a respectable stat line on Sunday: 9 points, 7 rebounds, a block and a steal. But he shot just 5-of-10 at the foul line. To give an idea of much Odiase has struggled at the line, that actually increased his season average to 47.6%.

Odiase’s offensive game still revolves around the basket, although he has added a couple of moves to stretch his range slightly. He was exposed going up against a skilled Eastern Illinois front line led by Muusa Dama, and even though Odiase got Dama in foul trouble, he could not make the Panthers pay.

Dama fouled out in 15 minutes of action with 8 points, 5 boards and 3 blocks.

What’s more troubling is Dikembe Dixson took a major step backwards.

Dixson chucked up a handful of poor shots and got beat several times on the defensive end en route to a 10-point performance on 4-of-11 shooting. He also turned the ball over four times, mostly as a result of trying to split double teams or attack defenders when outnumbered.

“I think they did a good job scouting him,” assistant coach Ron Coleman said. “As we continue to grow in this season, teams are going to prepare for him. He’s just got to do a better job understanding how teams are going to guard him, how teams are going to try to take some of his strengths away and things of that nature.”

Dixson had improved tremendously entering Sunday from an efficiency standpoint, and UIC needs him to be highly efficient to stay competitive. Even though Dixson is only a sophomore, he is one of UIC’s most experienced players after logging so many minutes last season.

Meanwhile, Eastern Illinois had two players record efficient scoring performances. Senior guard Cornell Johnston dropped 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting along with nine assists while junior guard Montell Goodwin had 19 points and three dimes. Each player drained four 3-pointers.

Clint Robinson and Godwin Boahen gave UIC a major boost off the bench.

Robinson, a 6’8″ junior college transfer, recorded 8 points and 7 rebounds in 17 minutes, all of which were career-highs in games against Division I opponents. He displayed a toughness that Odiase lacked in the second half, scoring all 8 points after halftime.

“This was a toughness game, and Clint is one of our toughest guys,” Coleman said. “This is a game that was fit for him. These guys attacked the offensive game. We needed to rebound the basketball, and he’s one of our best rebounders. Clint came in and did a great job.”

Boahen, a 5’11” freshman, managed to grab six rebounds and also tallied 11 points and three assists. He also made a great play in the fullcourt press with 1:23 remaining, even though the game was effectively over at that point. He nearly came up with a steal and managed to knock the ball out of bounds in the corner along the baseline, giving Eastern Illinois a very difficult inbounding position. In a closer game, plays like that can have a huge impact in crunch time when it comes to forcing an inbounds turnover.

Redshirt freshman Dominique Matthews also added a few big shots during UIC’s run to cut the lead to 10 late in the second. He finished with 10 points, and freshman guard Marcus Ottey came on strong late to finish with a team-high 16 points.

In a battle of two programs that have struggled historically, it was very clear DePaul currently sits in a far worse place than Northwestern. The Blue Demons fell 80-64 on Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena, and the game was never that close. The Wildcats led 54-18 at halftime and bumped their lead all the way to 39 points early in the second half.

“Obviously it’s a severe disappointment,” DePaul coach Dave Leitao said. “I have to go back a long way to be a part of a first half like that.”

While Leitao, in his second year as head coach, is still trying to find a winning formula, fourth-year Northwestern coach Chris Collins has found success the last two seasons after also struggling his first two years.

The Wildcats won 20 regular season games for the first time in program history last season and are off to a 6-2 start this time around.

“What [Collins] has done is recruit by recruit, practice by practice, game by game, kind of held down his ideals and now he’s got guys that truly understand and have skill packages to back up what the definition of what Northwestern basketball is about in his eyes,” Leitao said. “He’s got attackers, he’s got very fluid offensive group. His front line works really hard. And quite honestly, as much as we talked about it, I don’t think we were ready for that challenge.

With Saturday’s loss, the Blue Demons dropped to 4-2 and No. 191 overall in KenPom rankings. If this keeps up, DePaul will certainly finish with a losing record and possibly miss out on double digit wins for the second straight season.

“You have to be patient with yourself, you have to be patient with the people around you,” Leitao said. “You have to really bring in high quality people that can elevate your program. And a lot of it is they’ve got to get better. If they’re in an environment that requires them to get better in every aspect of their life, then that’s what happens.”

Collins took his lumps at Northwestern, too. The Wildcats had a losing record each of his first two seasons and lost 10 Big Ten games in a row during year two. And even though Northwestern won 20 games last season, it missed out on the postseason for the fourth straight season.

“We’ve had to fight through some really tough times,” Collins said after Saturday’s game. “We’ve had some amazing highs as well. It’s been a fun process. I’m not the most patient guy in the world so sometimes I look back and think of some of those times, and it’s what’s made me better. You become a better coach, you become a better leader.”

Leitao was at DePaul once before and had success in Chicago. In three seasons, he went 58-34, guiding the Blue Demons to the 2004 NCAA Tournament. No Chicago school has reached the Big Dance since then.

Looking at Leitao’s track record, Collins thinks he could have some local competition.

“He did it before,” Collins said. “He’s going to do it again.”

]]>http://thecatchandshoot.com/leitao-views-northwestern-as-a-model-for-how-depaul-can-grow/feed/015007Loyola shows growth in late-game situations in win over SDSUhttp://thecatchandshoot.com/loyola-shows-growth-in-late-game-situations-in-win-over-sdsu/
http://thecatchandshoot.com/loyola-shows-growth-in-late-game-situations-in-win-over-sdsu/#respondSun, 04 Dec 2016 07:48:50 +0000http://thecatchandshoot.com/?p=15003As monumental as Saturday’s win against Mountain West favorite San Diego State was, Loyola had a chance for an even bigger victory one week earlier when facing NC State on the road. The Ramblers lost a double-digit lead and fell 79-77 in a game that came down to the final possession.

Loyola guard Clayton Custer scored all 10 of his points in the second half as the Ramblers held off San Diego State. (Photo: Jesse Kramer / thecatchandshoot.com)

The same thing nearly happened against San Diego State. The Ramblers opened up a 49-39 lead early in the second half, but the Aztecs chipped away and finally took a 54-53 lead when Trey Kell drained a 3-pointer with 5:30 left.

“Just being in that game with NC State and just having that experience early in the season, they came back, they made their run, now we’ll go right back at them,” junior guard Clayton Custer said. “We just kept moving the ball, kept playing the way we play. We didn’t panic.”

Loyola forward Aundre Jackson came right back with a layup to give Loyola the lead, and this time the Ramblers stayed in front for good in a 65-59 victory.

“The thing that I like most about this team,” coach Porter Moser said, “is the resiliency of having a 10 point lead, losing it, and then never faltering and coming back and making our own run. That’s a sign of a good team. And we’ve done that.”

Against NC State, Loyola committed four turnovers in the final four minutes. Against San Diego State, the Ramblers committed no turnovers in the final seven minutes and gave the ball away just seven times overall.

“You learn from games,” Moser said. “You try to get better.”

One such opportunity came up late in the game with Loyola leading 57-54 and under three minutes remaining. Junior forward Aundre Jackson received the ball in the post and awaited a double team. One possession earlier, Jackson passed over two defenders to an open Vlatko Granic for an easy layup.

This time, the double team never came. Jackson recognized the opportunity to take Pope off the dribble, and finished a reverse layup to bump Loyola’s lead to three points.

Earlier in the season, the junior college newcomer may have tried forcing a pass. Jackson finished with a game-high 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting. The one miss came on a blocked 3-point pointer with the shot clock winding down.

“I promise it was dropping,” Jackson said laughing if the shot had not been blocked.

To wrap up the upset, junior guard Ben Richardson hit two daggers, a runner with 49 seconds left and a layup off a steal with 20 seconds left that put Loyola ahead 63-56.

“We need to get better at closing games out, I think,” Richardson said. “But we did close it out.”

—Freshman guard Bruno Skokna came off the bench to score 4 points and 6 rebounds, the latter of which was especially huge with junior forward Donte Ingram, the team’s leading rebounder, out with an MCL injury.

“The rebounds were the biggest things,” Moser said of Skokna’s performance. “You look at the six rebounds, and we needed those with Donte out.”

—With his scorching shooting performance, Jackson is now 5th in the nation with a 76.0 effective field-goal percentage. He leads the Missouri Valley in that category by nearly a 10-point margin (Illinois State guard Paris Lee, 66.7%).

—Senior guard Milton Doyle had an average outing with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting along with two assists. But he hit an NBA range three at the first-half buzzer to give Loyola a 35-33 lead heading into the locker room.

—Loyola has now won 18 of its last 19 non-conference home games. The only loss during that stretch was to Cleveland State last December.

—Despite ranking in the top 25 nationally in effective field-goal percentage and turnover rate, Loyola has only the nation’s 199th-most efficient offense in the nation, according to KenPom stats. That’s the result of the nation’s third-worst offensive rebounding rate at 18.5% and 63.6% free throw shooting, which also ranks near the bottom of Division I.